(PAGE OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Dear Family, Our class is starting a new unit called Puzzles, Clusters, and Towers. In this unit, students focus on gaining fluency with multiplication strategies. Students work on understanding division situations and developing strategies for division problems with -digit and 2-digit divisors. Throughout the unit, students will be working toward these goals: Benchmarks/Goals Examples Solve 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication problems efficiently. 32 28 =? First, draw an unmarked array. Think of 32 as 30 + 2 and 28 as 20 + 8. 20 8 Then, find the areas of the rectangles and add. 30 20 = 600 2 20 = 40 30 8 = 240 2 8 = 6 600 + 40 + 240 + 6 = 896 30 30 20 30 8 2 2 20 2 8 Solve division problems with -digit and 2-digit divisors. 256 8 =? First, think of this as a missing factor problem. 8 = 256 Next, break apart 256 into numbers that are multiples of 8. 256 = 240 + 6 Then, find the missing factors and add. 8 30 = 240 8 2 = 6 30 + 2 = 32 UNIT 5 SESSION.
About the Mathematics in This Unit (PAGE 2 OF 2) Benchmarks/Goals Use the order of operations to solve computation problems. Examples How can you use parentheses and brackets to make this equation true? 4 3 + 2 3 = 3 [4 (3 + 2)] 3 = 3 [4 5] 3 = 3 9 3 = 3 In our math class, students spend time discussing problems in depth and are asked to share their reasoning and solutions. It is most important that children accurately and efficiently solve math problems in ways that make sense to them. At home, encourage your child to explain his or her math thinking to you. Please look for more information and activities about Puzzles, Clusters, and Towers that will be sent home over the next few days. UNIT 6 SESSION.
Homework Dear Family, (PAGE OF 2) Homework is an important link between learning in and out of school. Homework assignments provide reinforcement of the work students do in math class. Here are some suggestions for making the homework experience successful for your child. Set a regular time every day for homework, and establish a quiet place for your child to work (whether at home, in an after-school program, or at another location). Establish a system for bringing homework to and from school. Use an assignment book, a homework folder, or other organizational tools. Students will bring home the materials and directions needed to do homework activities. Certain materials will be used repeatedly throughout the year. Because these will be sent home only once, please help your child find a safe place to store these math materials perhaps in a math folder or envelope so that they can be easily located and used when needed. If your child regularly does homework in more than one place, we can discuss how to obtain the necessary materials. In our math class, students spend time working on problems in depth and are asked to share their reasoning and solutions. It is most important that children accurately and efficiently solve math problems by using problem-solving methods that are meaningful to them. At home, encourage your child to explain his or her strategies and mathematical ideas to you. UNIT 5 SESSION.3
Homework When your child asks you for help in solving a problem, it may be helpful for you to ask questions, such as these: (PAGE 2 OF 2) What do you need to figure out in this problem? Does this remind you of other problems? What part of the problem do you already know how to solve? What is a good place to start? What have you figured out so far? Would drawing a picture or diagram help? How can I help you (without telling you an answer)? If you would like to share any thoughts with me about how your child is approaching a homework task, please feel free to send me a note. If an assignment seems too difficult, too confusing, or perhaps too easy, please let me know so that I can address the issue. I look forward to working together throughout the year. UNIT 6 SESSION.3
Practicing Multiplication Facts Dear Family, (PAGE OF 2) To develop strong computation strategies for multiplication with multidigit numbers, students need to be fluent with the multiplication facts up to 0 0, often known as multiplication tables. Students were expected to learn these multiplication facts in Grade 3, and they reviewed and used them in Grade 4. The beginning of the school year is a good time for Grade 5 students to review these facts and identify any facts they may still not know fluently. The sheer number of multiplication facts to remember can seem overwhelming, and many adults recall the task of memorizing the facts. In school, students have learned these facts in categories of related facts to help them. As Grade 5 students review the multiplication facts, they identify the facts they still need to practice. They record the facts they are still learning, and they add clues to help them with those facts. Students use a fact that they know, which is close to the fact they are solving, and then they adjust to find the product. Here are some examples: 9 8 = 72 8 9 = 72 Clue: 0 8 = 80 80-8 = 72 6 7 = 42 and 7 6 = 42 Clue: 6 5 = 30 6 2 = 2 30 + 2 = 42 4 8 = 32 and 8 4 = 32 Clue: 2 8 = 6 6 + 6 = 32 UNIT 7 SESSION.3
Practicing Multiplication Facts As they practice using the clues, students gradually come to know the facts that are difficult for them. Here are some suggestions to help your child learn the multiplication facts. (PAGE 2 OF 2) Ask your child which multiplication facts he or she is practicing. Find out what clues your child has chosen to help learn these facts. Choose two or three of the facts at a time to review together. UNIT 8 SESSION.3
Related Activities to Try at Home (PAGE OF 2) Dear Family, The activities below are related to the mathematics in this unit, Puzzles, Clusters, and Towers. You can use them at home to enrich your child s mathematical learning experiences. Estimating Any time you need to estimate amounts at home, try to involve your child. Look for ways to count or estimate large numbers of things, like floor tiles or windowpanes, or the number of cookies you ll need to make for a big party. Encourage your child to think of different ways to figure out about how many. Everyday Computation Notice when you use multiplication and division in your everyday life. Enlist your child s help. For example, if you are planning a picnic, have your child help figure out what you need to buy. If there are 20 slices in a loaf of bread, how many loaves will you need if each person eats two sandwiches? How Did You Solve That? Ask your child to tell you about how he or she is multiplying and dividing. Show that you are interested in these approaches. Because these strategies may be unfamiliar to you, listen carefully to your child s explanation; you might even try to do a problem or two, using the new procedure. Let your child be the teacher! UNIT 23 SESSION.4
Related Activities to Try at Home Modeling Division Situations At school, students have been solving word problems that represent various types of division situations. Encourage your child to help you solve situations that come up in your daily activities. For example, while shopping you might ask, If you can buy 2 pencils for 29 cents, about how many can you buy for $3.00? or I baked a batch of 36 muffins for the bake sale. I need to put them in bags of 5. How many bags can I fill with 5 muffins in each bag? (PAGE 2 OF 2) UNIT 24 SESSION.4
(PAGE OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Dear Family, Our class is starting a new mathematics unit about geometry and measurement called Prisms and Solids. During this unit, students study volume the amount of space a 3-D object occupies. They use paper boxes and cubes to develop a strategy for finding the volume of any rectangular prism. Students also find the volume of solids composed of rectangular prisms. They also learn to apply the formulas for volume (V = l w h and V = b h) to find volume. Throughout the unit, students work toward these goals: Benchmarks/Goals Find the volume of rectangular prisms, including the use of volume formulas. Examples The prism is 5 units by 2 units by 3 units. What is the volume? V = l w h V = 5 2 3 = 0 3 = 30 The volume is 30 cubic units. Find the volume of a solid composed of two rectangular prisms. Top prism: base = 2 2 = 4 height = 4 volume = 6 cubic units Bottom prism: base = 2 4 = 8 height = 2 volume = 6 cubic units Volume of solid is 32 cubic units. UNIT 2 8 SESSION.
About the Mathematics in This Unit (PAGE 2 OF 2) Benchmarks/Goals Use standard units to measure volume. Examples What is the volume of the cube? All the edges of the cube are the same length: 6 cm. The base of the cube is 6 6, so 36 centimeter cubes would fit on the bottom of the box. Since the cube is 6 centimeters high, there are 6 layers in the box. 6 36 = 26. The volume of the cube is 26 cubic centimeters (26 cm 3 ). In our math class, students spend time discussing problems in depth and are asked to share their reasoning and solutions. It is important that children solve math problems in ways that make sense to them. At home, encourage your child to explain his or her math thinking to you. Please look for more information and activities about Prisms and Solids that will be sent home in the coming weeks. UNIT 2 82 SESSION.
Related Activities to Try at Home Dear Family, The activities below are related to the mathematics in this geometry and measurement unit, Prisms and Solids. You can use the activities to enrich your child s mathematical learning experience. How Many Packages in a Box? Many household items are packaged and sold in boxes. You and your child can take a large cardboard box and predict how many bars of soap (toothpaste, pudding, cereal boxes) would fit in that box. You might try a variety of boxes at home or explore the way things are packaged when you visit grocery stores or other stores. SOAP Volume of a Room Another activity for exploring volume is to compare the amount of space in different rooms. At school, students will find the volume of their classroom in cubic meters. At home, your child can find the volume of various rooms. Which room do you think has the largest volume? Which room has the smallest volume? Why? Discuss how to compare rooms of unusual shapes (a slanted ceiling or an L-shape). UNIT 2 87 SESSION.2
(PAGE OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Dear Family, Our class is starting a new mathematics unit about fractions called Rectangles, Clocks, and Tracks. During this unit, students use their knowledge of fractions, fraction equivalents, and a variety of representations to compare fractions and to add and subtract fractions. Throughout the unit, students work toward these goals: Benchmarks/Goals Add fractions with unlike denominators. Sam and his friends ate of a large cheese pizza and of a large mushroom pizza. How much pizza did Sam and his friends eat? 5 6 Examples 3 Subtract fractions with unlike denominators. UNIT 3 29 SESSION.
FAMILY LETTER (PAGE 2 OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Benchmarks/Goals Examples Represent data including fractions on a line plot and solve addition and subtraction problems about the data. Which is longer, the longest clear-winged grasshopper or the longest two-striped grasshopper? How much longer? 0 2 3 Lengths of Clear-Winged Grasshoppers (inches) 0 2 3 Lengths of Two-Striped Grasshoppers (inches) This is the first of three units in Grade 5 that focus on rational numbers (fractions and decimals). In Unit 6, students extend their work with fractions to working with adding and subtracting decimals, and in Unit 7, students extend this work with fractions and decimals to the operations of multiplication and division. In our math class, students spend time discussing problems in depth and are asked to share their reasoning and solutions. It is important that students solve math problems in ways that make sense to them. At home, encourage your child to explain the math thinking that supports those solutions. Please look for more information and activities about Rectangles, Clocks, and Tracks that will be sent home in the coming weeks. UNIT 3 30 SESSION.
(PAGE OF 2) Related Activities to Try at Home Dear Family, The activities below are related to the mathematics in the fractions unit Rectangles, Clocks, and Tracks. You can use the activities to enrich your child s mathematical learning experience. Fractions on a Number Line You and your child can look for examples of number lines (with fractions, whole numbers, or unnumbered marks) such as those on measuring cups, speedometers, gasoline gauges, rulers, and thermometers. Talk together about what the fractions mean or what numbers the marks represent when you use these measuring tools. CUPS 2 2 2/3 3/4 /2 /3 /4 3/4 2/3 /2 /3 /4 0 3 5 3 7 9 3 5 5 3 7 6 8 6 4 6 8 6 6 8 6 6 8 6 2 4 inches How far? While traveling, ask your child questions about how far you ve gone or how far you need to go. For example, if you are going to a park that is 4 blocks away, point out when you have gone 2 2 blocks and ask how many more blocks must you go to reach the park. UNIT 3 39 SESSION.2
Related Activities to Try at Home Estimating Sums and Differences As you encounter fractions in everyday life (such as cooking or measurement), ask your child questions about sums or differences. For example, if you re cooking, ask your child if you have enough (sugar, flour, milk) for the recipe; about how much more is needed; what the total number of (cups) of dry ingredients would be. (PAGE 2 OF 2) How Did You Solve That? As in other Investigations units, students develop several strategies that make sense to them for solving fraction problems. When you see your child using a strategy that is not familiar to you, ask for an explanation. The conversation will be educational for both you and your child. UNIT 3 40 SESSION.2
FAMILY LETTER (PAGE OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Dear Family, Our class is starting a new mathematics unit about multiplication and division called How Many People and Teams? In this unit, students solve multiplication problems and learn and practice the U.S. standard algorithm for multiplication. Students focus on refining and efficiently using division strategies. They solve multi-step problems. Throughout the unit, students work toward the following goals: Benchmarks/Goals Examples Fluently solve multidigit multiplication problems using a variety of strategies including the U.S. standard algorithm. Solve division problems with up to 4-digit dividends and 2-digit divisors efficiently. UNIT 4 205 SESSION.
About the Mathematics in This Unit In our math class, students spend time discussing problems in depth and are asked to share their reasoning and solutions. It is most important that students accurately and efficiently solve math problems in ways that make sense to them. At home, encourage your child to explain his or her math thinking to you. (PAGE 2 OF 2) Please look for more information and activities about How Many People and Teams? that will be sent home in the coming weeks. UNIT 4 206 SESSION.
(PAGE OF 2) Related Activities to Try at Home Dear Family, The activities below are related to the mathematics in the multiplication and division unit How Many People and Teams?. You can use the activities to enrich your child s mathematical learning experience. Solving Multistep Problems In this unit, students solve complex problems that involve several operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). Look for familiar and interesting situations that you can use as a basis for exploring these types of problems with your child. Here are some examples: This package contains 40 crackers. How many packages do you think are on the grocery shelf? How many crackers is that? How long would it take our family to eat them? If you sleep 8 hours per night on week nights and 0 hours per night on weekends, how many hours do you sleep each week? Each month? Each year? 0 9 8 7 Estimating Large Products and Quotients Notice when you use multiplication and division in your everyday life, and look for ways to estimate the answers with your child. Here are some examples: About how many cars are parked today at the mall? Are there more or less than,500? If you usually read 35 pages each day, about how long will it take you to finish the book you are reading now? Will it take more than a week? 2 2 3 4 6 5 UNIT 4 2 SESSION.2
Related Activities to Try at Home How Did You Solve That? Ask your child to tell you about how he or she is solving problems. Also ask your child to record his or her work so that you can understand it. If some of the strategies your child is using are unfamiliar to you, ask your child to explain them carefully. Learning to clearly communicate thinking to others is an important emphasis in this unit. (PAGE 2 OF 2) UNIT 4 22 SESSION.2
(PAGE OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Dear Family, Our class is starting a new mathematics unit called Temperature, Height, and Growth. The focus of this unit is on using tables and coordinate graphs to analyze patterns and solve real-world and mathematical problems. In this unit, students learn about situations in which two quantities, such as temperature or height, are changing over time. They also study changes associated with geometric shapes, for example, how the area of a square changes as the length of its sides increases. Students use tables, graphs, and equations to represent how one quantity changes in relation to another quantity. They analyze patterns they can see in the tables or in the shapes of the graphs to solve problems and compare situations. Throughout the unit, students will be working toward these goals: Benchmarks Examples Use tables to record ordered pairs and construct coordinate graphs to represent the relationship between x-coordinates and y-coordinates. Age (years) 0 (birth) 2 Height (cm) 2 4 6 Height (cm) 6 5 4 3 2 0 2 3 Age (years) UNIT 5 279 SESSION.
(PAGE 2 OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Benchmarks Examples Determine what values are represented by points on a coordinate grid. y 6 B 5 4 3 2 O 2 3 4 5 x Point B represents the value 3 on the x-axis and 5 on the y-axis. Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the coordinate plane and interpret the graph in the context of the situation. Temperature (dgrees Fahrenheit) 00 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 0 0 High Temperatures in One Year in Honolulu Sept. 9 Sept. 30 Oct. 2 Nov. Dec. 2 Dec. 23 Jan. 4 Feb. 4 Feb. 25 Mar. 8 Apr. 8 Apr. 29 May 20 June 0 July July 22 Aug. 2 Sept. 2 On September 9, the temperature was 90 F. Use tables and graphs to compare two situations governed by rules that generate numerical patterns. Height (centimeters) Tony, Maya, and Susie 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 5 0 05 00 95 90 85 80 75 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Age (years) Please look for more information and activities about Temperature, Height, and Growth that will be sent home in the coming weeks. UNIT 5 280 SESSION.
(PAGE OF 2) Related Activities to Try at Home Dear Family, The activities below are related to the mathematics in the unit Temperature, Height, and Growth. You can use these activities to enrich your child s mathematical learning experience. Change Situations Together with your child, look for things that change in different ways and at different speeds. Can you find some things that change more and more quickly? Can you find things that change steadily? Can you find anything that changes by gradually slowing down, or by gradually shrinking? Here are some ideas to start with: the growth of a plant over time the speed of a bicyclist over the course of a race the growth of your child (and siblings) over time Consider making graphs of any of these situations. What Is in the News? Look online or in newspapers and other print material for graphs and tables that show something changing over time. Work with your child to make sense of these: What does a steep rise in a graph represent? What does a less steep rise in the same graph represent? How does a graph represent no change? Population 2,500,000 2,400,000 2,300,000 2,200,000 2,00,000 2,000,000,900,000,800,000 Population Change 200 20 202 203 204 205 Year State A State B UNIT 5 285 SESSION.2
Related Activities to Try at Home Marble Jar Start with 4 objects in a jar (marbles, pennies, paper clips, or some other small objects). Imagine adding 6 more each day. How many will there be in 0 days? 20 days? 50 days? 00 days? Can you come up with a rule for determining the number of marbles in the jar after any number of days? Repeat the Marble Jar activity with other numbers (start with 5 marbles, add 9; start with 00 marbles, subtract 6; and so on). Can you make a graph to show these changes? Number of Days Start Day Day 2 Day 3 Day 0 Day 20 Day 50 Day 00 Any number of days (PAGE 2 OF 2) Number of Marbles 4 0 6 22????? UNIT 5 286 SESSION.2
(PAGE OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Dear Family, Our class is starting a new mathematics unit about decimals called Between 0 and. In this unit, students investigate the meaning of decimals. They develop an understanding of the relationships between fractions and decimals, and they use knowledge of number relationships and a variety of representations and models to compare and order decimals and to add and subtract decimals. Throughout the unit, students work toward these goals: Benchmarks/Goals Write, compare, and round decimals to thousandths. Examples What is the order of these decimals from least to greatest? 0.7, 0.333, 0.45 To solve this problem, I thought about tenths. 0.7 is seven tenths. 0.333 is a little more than three tenths. 0.45 is between four tenths and five tenths. 0.333 0.45 0.7 0.0 0. 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.333 < 0.45 < 0.7 0.8 0.9.0 Add and subtract decimals. A jeweler has 3 small pieces of gold that weigh 2.2 grams,.06 grams, and.425 grams. How much gold does the jeweler have in all? Estimate 2.2 is close to 2..06 is close to..425 is close to. 2 The answer should be about 4 or about 4.5. 2 Solution 2 + + = 0.2 + 0.4 = 0.06 + 0.02 = 4 0.6 0.08 + 0.005 4.685 UNIT 6 355 SESSION.
About the Mathematics in This Unit In our math class, students spend time discussing problems in depth and are asked to share their reasoning and solutions. It is most important that students accurately and efficiently solve math problems in ways that make sense to them. At home, encourage your child to explain his or her math thinking to you. Please look for more information and activities about Between 0 and that will be sent home in the coming weeks. (PAGE 2 OF 2) UNIT 6 356 SESSION.
(PAGE OF 2) Related Activities to Try at Home Dear Families, The activities below are related to the mathematics in the unit Between 0 and. You can use the activities to enrich your child s mathematical learning experience. Everyday Decimals In this unit, students investigate decimals as ways to represent numbers less than (e.g., 0.75 pound of deli cheese) and numbers between whole numbers (e.g., The marathon is 26.2 miles long.). You can build on your child s work in this unit by looking for everyday examples of decimals and talking about what they mean. Discuss problem situations that involve decimals as they arise. Look in the newspaper or online at the weather statistics for your area. What is the average amount of precipitation for the month? How much rain or snow has there been so far this month? How close are you to the average? January average: 4.80 inches So far this month: 3.94 inches Track your favorite sports teams records. 204 baseball season: Wins: 7 Losses: 9 7 wins 62 games 0.438 205 baseball season: Wins: 78 Losses: 84 78 wins 62 games 0.48 UNIT 6 375 SESSION.4
Related Activities to Try At Home How Did You Solve That? Ask your child to tell you about how he or she is solving problems. Also ask your child to record his or her work so that you can understand it. If some of the strategies your child is using are unfamiliar to you, ask your child to explain them carefully. Learning to clearly communicate thinking to others is an important emphasis in this unit. (PAGE 2 OF 2) UNIT 6 376 SESSION.4
(PAGE OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Dear Family, Our class is starting a new mathematics unit about multiplication and division of fractions and decimals called Races, Arrays, and Grids. In this unit, students solve multiplication and division problems that involve fractions and decimals. They also convert measurements within the metric and U.S. standard measurement systems. Throughout the unit, students work toward these goals: Benchmarks/Goals Multiply fractions, mixed numbers, and whole numbers. Examples Alicia owns 3 of a section of land. She plants pumpkins 4 on 2 of her land. What fraction of the entire section is 3 planted with Alicia s pumpkins? 3 4 2 3 3 3 4 2 2 4 2 2 4 2 2 Compare the size of the factors and the size of the product and explain their relationship. Divide a unit fraction by a whole number and a whole number by a unit fraction. 2 3 3 6 = or 4 2 2 ( ) On Tuesday, Margaret biked 3 of a bike path that is 4 32 miles long. Without finding out exactly how many miles she rode, did she ride more or less than 32 miles? How do you know? Yumiko has 6 cups of flour. If she needs cup of flour for 3 jumbo muffin, how many jumbo muffins can she make? UNIT 7 425 SESSION.
About the Mathematics in This Unit (PAGE 2 OF 2) Benchmarks/Goals Solve division problems with two whole numbers resulting in a fraction or a mixed number. Examples 7 people equally share 6 brownies. How much of a brownie does each person get? 6 7 = 6 7 Recognize and use place value relationships to explain patterns when multiplying or dividing by powers of 0, including placement of the decimal point. 8 0.0 = 8 0. = 8 = 8 0 = 8 00 = What do you notice about the sets of problems above? Multiply and divide decimals to hundredths. 0.8 2 = Solve measurement conversion problems including multi-step word problems. Deon bought 36 cans of juice that each contained 300 milliliters of juice. How many liters of juice did he buy? 300 L =,000 ml 36 800 0,800,000 = 0.800 L 9000 0,800 ml In our math class, students spend time discussing problems in depth and are asked to share their reasoning and solutions. It is most important that children accurately and efficiently solve math problems in ways that make sense to them. At home, encourage your child to explain his or her math thinking to you. Please look for more information and activities about Races, Arrays, and Grids that will be sent home in the coming weeks. UNIT 7 426 SESSION.
(PAGE OF 2) Related Activities to Try at Home Dear Families, The activities below are related to the mathematics in the multiplication and division of fractions and decimals unit, Races, Arrays, and Grids. You can use the activities to enrich your child s mathematical learning experience. Multiplying and Dividing with Fractions In this unit, students multiply and divide with fractions. Look for familiar and interesting situations that you can use as a basis for exploring these types of problems with your child. For example, when you are cooking with your child, ask questions like these: This recipe calls for 3 4 cup of flour. We are going to triple the recipe. How much flour do we need? (3 3 4 = ) We have 3 cups of milk. This recipe for muffins calls for 4 cup of milk, how many batches of muffins can we make? (3, 4 = ) This recipe calls for 2 cups of flour. We are going to make only 3 4 of a recipe. How much flour do we need? ( 3 4 2 = ) This recipe calls for 3 4 cup of milk. We are going to make only half of a recipe. How much milk do we need? ( 2 3 4 = ) Encourage students to draw representations to solve these problems. UNIT 7 437 SESSION.3
Related Activities to Try at Home Multiplying and Dividing Decimals In this unit, students also multiply and divide with decimals. Look for familiar and interesting situations that you can use as a basis for exploring these types of problems with your child. Here are some examples: (PAGE 2 OF 2) The box of crackers costs $2.35. We are going to buy 3 boxes. How much will 3 boxes of crackers cost? (3 $2.35 = ) Our bill at the restaurant is $69.8. We are going to split the bill evenly among our 3 families. How much does each family have to pay? ($69.8, 3 = ) Converting Measurements In this unit, students convert measurements for distances, mass/weight, and capacity within the metric system and within the U.S. standard system. Have your child help you convert measurements that you use in your daily lives, such as converting meters to centimeters, ounces to pounds, inches to feet, quarts to gallons, and liters to milliliters. How Did You Solve That? Ask your child to tell you about how he or she is solving problems. Also ask your child to record his or her work so that you can understand it. If some of the strategies your child is using are unfamiliar to you, ask your child to explain them carefully. Learning to clearly communicate one s thinking to others is an important emphasis in this unit. UNIT 7 438 SESSION.3
(PAGE OF 2) About the Mathematics in This Unit Dear Family, Our class is starting a new mathematics unit about geometry and measurement called Properties of Polygons. During this unit, students investigate the classification of polygons by attributes such as length of sides and size of angles. They solve problems about perimeter, a linear measure, and area, a two-dimensional measure. Throughout the unit, students work toward these goals: Benchmarks/Goals Classify polygons by their attributes, and know that some quadrilaterals can be classified in more than one way. Examples Which of these figures are parallelograms? How do you know? 3 9 20 22 27 Figures 3, 22, and 27 are parallelograms. Each of these figures has two pairs of parallel sides. Identify and explain numerical patterns when comparing perimeters or areas of related rectangles. Dimensions of Rectangle Original 2 2 in. 6 in. 2 All sides 2 Perimeter Area 3 All sides 3 4 All sides 4 UNIT 8 537 SESSION.
About the Mathematics in This Unit In our math class, students spend time discussing problems in depth and are asked to share their reasoning and solutions. It is important that children solve math problems in ways that make sense to them. At home, encourage your child to explain the math thinking that supports those solutions. (PAGE 2 OF 2) Please look for more information and activities about Properties of Polygons that will be sent home in the coming weeks. UNIT 8 538 SESSION.
(PAGE OF 2) Related Activities to Try at Home Dear Families, The activities below are related to the mathematics in the Geometry and Measurement unit Properties of Polygons. You can use the activities to enrich your child s mathematical learning experience. Playing I Spy Polygons and Angles To help your child continue to investigate the properties of polygons (especially triangles and quadrilaterals) and patterns involving their sides and angles, find figures around the house that fit a rule and play a guessing game. For example, you might describe a mirror by saying, I m thinking of something in this room that has two equal sides, at least two equal angles, and at least two parallel sides. What could it be? Then have your child identify objects that fit that rule, while trying to guess which specific object you were describing. Practicing Perimeter Estimating or calculating the perimeter of objects around the house is a good way to help your child use this concept in a variety of situations. There are many examples: the perimeter of a rectangular table, the perimeter of a room or rug, the perimeter of the refrigerator door or sink. You can measure perimeter in standard units of measure (such as inches or centimeters) or in nonstandard units (such as hand widths). Work with your child on estimating perimeters by measuring the perimeter of one object (for example, the sink), and then using this information to estimate the perimeter of a nearby object (for example, the refrigerator door). UNIT 8 543 SESSION.2
Related Activities to Try at Home Look for objects to measure that are other shapes besides rectangles. Can your child begin to estimate the perimeter of circular objects, such as a round table? Find the perimeter of a round table by walking or measuring around the outside of the table. Compare this perimeter with those of rectangular objects such as tables and rugs. (PAGE 2 OF 2) UNIT 8 544 SESSION.2